Couple turkey gun questions.

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Nsghunter

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Hi! I'm new to the forum, first post here so take it easy.

I have a few questions:
I'm new to Turkey hunting, well hunting in general, I don't have a turkey gun and not a lot of cash. I looked at a mossberg 500 or even the maverick at Walmart for less than $300. They are chokeable and fit my budget. Any response would be great. I have a h&k tactical 12 with 18" barrel but I don't know where to get a barrel, I have looked but I'm not even sure what model it is. All the markings only say tactical.
How important is it to have a cammo gun for turkey?
 
Camo is not important but nothing stainless, that 500 will do what you need, but most Walmart carry a Remington 870 for 299
 
My NEF Pardner pump action was $170 when I bought it at Walmart 3 years ago. I still use it and in fact just cleaned it out today for dove and duck hunting before I clean it again and put the turkey choke back in for turkey season. It came with a factory mod choke and I have an accu-choke xx full for turkeys and use cheap lead turkey loads. I don't get the range or patterns that a lot of turkey hunters get (that's not the guns fault), but I have killed 23 birds with it in the past 3 years (spring and fall). The only two things I don't like about the gun is it rusts easily (like any black shotgun) and it is heavy. Even as heavy as it is, I am used to carrying it a long ways so it doesn't bother me. I will keep hunting with it until another gun takes its place, but for $170 I sure have got my moneys worth.

That mossberg you mentioned will be a great gun too.
 
if it were me i would just find a used 870 or buy one from walmart over either of those choices. You will be happier with the 870 over the long haul, again just my opinion.
 
TheRealSpurhunter said:
A 500 or an 870 is a great choice to start with. As you progress in proficiency hunting the blasted birds, you will want to go with a 3.5" gun at some point.
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I have yet to have any desire to shoot 3.5s, that's just me, I've killed enough turkeys without killing my shoulder, just bruising it from the 3s
 
Keep your shots ethical(under 40 yards) and any 12 gauge with a "stock" barrel in either mod. or full choke, shooting any 3 in. 4,5, or 6's will consistently kill them dead. Everything else is over kill and is not necessary. A can of brown and green spray paint and a creative mind can make for a fine camo pattern. Spend the money you save on calls, a good pair of boots, and gas.
 
curdogtn said:
Keep your shots ethical(under 40 yards) and any 12 gauge with a "stock" barrel in either mod. or full choke, shooting any 3 in. 4,5, or 6's will consistently kill them dead. Everything else is over kill and is not necessary. A can of brown and green spray paint and a creative mind can make for a fine camo pattern. Spend the money you save on calls, a good pair of boots, and gas.
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x 2

This is especially true if you opt for "heavier than lead" loads of #7 shot, even more so with the Federal Heavyweights in #7. :)
 
Nsghunter said:
What is a heavier than lead shot?
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There are several kinds of HTL shot. It is basically a denser material like tungsten. Hevishot, Federal Heavyweight, TSS, etc. It patterns better than lead and since it is denser than lead you can go with a smaller pellet (say for example #7) and pack the same punch as larger lead pellet. I think Hevishot #7 is equal to #5 lead. But, you can pack a whole bunch more #7's in a pattern than #5's. They are much more expensive than lead, but worth it in my opinion. When you get down to it, a box of Hevishot will cover your whole spring for less than a half tank of gas. Hope this helps.
 
with lead #4 shot it is on at the line IMO just from a simple physics stand point, a better question is why would you want to shoot one at 60yds? are you that hard up to kill one or is it just to say you killed one at 60yds? Nothing personal just never understood the want to even shoot one that far and i don't believe the age old excuse of it being in a field and thought it was 40ish.
 
so again why take a shot at 60yds? if they won't come closer then hunt them another day so maybe they will. I just don't see the point of shooting one that far, i mean you can't even really see the bird or your target clear at that distance ESPECIALLY if you are shooting a bead. again from a simple physics stand point lead 4 shot is borderline at that distance and the actual pattern density of lead 4 shot at that distance is very weak WHICH in turn decrease the odds of a clean kill and INCREASES the odds of a miss or wounded bird. That is where the unethical point comes in, when your odds of a clean kill vs a miss or wounding a bird are close to equal it stands to question the shot.

You have said in the past it kills them every time and my only question was please share the results of your pattern at that distance. For nothing else to just prove your point as you may infact have a perfect set up for what you are shooting. If shells are an issue i will be happy to buy some and send them of you to test with.

having said that you don't have to prove anything to me or anyone else on here so by all means tell me to pound sand, but just understand your claim and why people would question it is all.
 
I try my best not to talk about shot distance in the open, the only reason is because I don't want to perpetuate the myth that long shots should be taken by anything less than a customized setup. The patterns I get at 60 will look better than 90% of guns shooting at 40 yards. Do I NEED that, certainly not, I also don't NEED to shoot a .300 WSM when a .223 or .243 will kill a deer.

Its called insurance, and who wants to risk wounded game? Not me, that's why I go with overkill with turkeys. They are extremely tough birds, and I've been fortunate to only wound and not recover one bird in my life...and I've shot a bunch of em.

I have spent more on chokes and different brands of ammo's patterning guns than most will send in their whole life of turkey hunting combined. Try shooting 5 different chokes using Nitro custom loads at different distances, your talking about $250-300 in shells at the range in one day, minimum. I take this stuff very seriously.

Am I the best turkey hunter, heck no. Do I have a gun that will outshoot the vast majority, yup.
 
i killed several turkey with the maverick when i first started hunting, but the only problem i had with it was the action release button is easily depressed and i and other people have had shells snap when shooting at turkeys.
 

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